Schools - choosing advice

[elainem]

My nephew has got two Secondary Schools - Ard Ris and Mount Temple - very bright child. One friend going to Mount Temple , multi-d and co-ed - he hears it's more of a fun and relaxed atmosphere there. Two friends going to Ard Ris - more academic, single-sex though. Mount Temple is 15 mins walk and Ard Ris 10 mins - would anyone have any thoughts on either of these schools - he can't decide - the entrance exams for both are in Feb.

 

[Thirsty]

The so-called 'entrance' exam is a mis-nomer. Entry to a school cannot be decided on exam results.

Personally I'd always prefer mixed to single sex.

 

[Sue Ellen]

This school league table article in Indo might be of interest http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...-tables-how-good-is-your-school-34391423.html

I note you don't say where these schools are and presume they are:
https://www.google.ie/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Ard+Ris+school

https://www.google.ie/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Mount+Temple+school

As far as I can recall from speaking to teachers about my two that boys generally do better in mixed schools and girls in girl only.

 

[Branz]

Subject availability to match what your nephew wants to do is the key here: while schools will list a wide range of subjects, the timetable may not actually cater for the options required: this even applies in the full price fee paying schools.

The idea is to have the widest choice of subjects so as no higher level options are excluded because of poor availability in the school of the necessary subjects.

Likewise, education is not just about the school, its about the child and the interest in education in the home, as well as the particular teachers that the child interacts with.

 

[John Locke]

Mount Temple may be a multi-denominational school (it wasn't very clear on the website), but it operates a protestants first admission policy.

Regarding single sex education, I've done a small bit of reading and it seems the evidence from research is pretty mixed, there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus. I've often heard people assert that it's better for one sex or the other, but I think this is purely anecdotal.